i have found that simple = better. a lot of project management software sounds great in terms of features., but a lot of it is bells and whistles and really all you need is a task list and a spreadsheet.

i use Excel and TextEdit.app to keep track of everything in our studio. one day i might go up to a databse like FileMaker but for now it is unnecessary. Finances are all in Quickbooks Pro, but we use Excel spreadsheets for tracking who owes us what, etc..

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

What you need is just a task list or a "do to" manager. Project Managers are typically oriented to projects with 50 or 100 people working on 10,000 interrelated tasks. they do things like critical path analysis, resource leveling and so on.

If you are looking for something simple, than "Things" is a good task manager that can break lists into projects. It's a nice interface too if that's important to you (and has an iPhone app for it too):

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

Not sure if this was already recommended, but for me the best software for this is OmniFocus. I have the desktop version and the iphone version. It may may take a little getting used to, but once you get used to it, it's great. Get a trial version and see if it works for you. BTW I am also graphic designer / graphic artist, so I can relate with your need to keep track of many creative projects. Hope that was a little helpful.

I struggled with this at my firm. Some are so complex they are almost unusable, so I made my own

The important parts for me where the priority, client, project name, then associated pending and completed tasks for each. I designed the system to be overly simple so my employees didn't get overwhelmed and enjoyed using it.

Some features

New Projects or replies appear in full marroon as seen below.
I can create projects for my employees and give them full requirements and attach any documentation or logo artwork.
I can associate tasks with projects for each employee. They will get an email saying they've been assigned a task.
They can reply and comment, just as I can on the task.
They can upload their comps - This also makes nice links for my clients to view comps and for print companies to download high large zips.
I can view everyones tasks on one screen
I can mark tasks as completed
Update priority, phases, etc.

May I suggest trying Bento (personal database from FileMaker) to track your projects, this has the advantage of easy customization to better serve your needs. Combine this with iCal schedule management and I think you have a winner...

May I suggest trying Bento (personal database from FileMaker) to track your projects, this has the advantage of easy customization to better serve your needs. Combine this with iCal schedule management and I think you have a winner...

Bento would be a good choice if you want to build something yourself. There are templates to help with that.
We are a Filemaker Pro training facility but all of us use Bento for personal project management.

You can try PlanningForce. Its really robust & efficient for me. Even cost effective & more over VFM ! You can download a trial from their website http://www.planningforce.com/ . You can use it, you will not regret!

I struggled with this at my firm. Some are so complex they are almost unusable, so I made my own

The important parts for me where the priority, client, project name, then associated pending and completed tasks for each. I designed the system to be overly simple so my employees didn't get overwhelmed and enjoyed using it.

Some features

New Projects or replies appear in full marroon as seen below.
I can create projects for my employees and give them full requirements and attach any documentation or logo artwork.
I can associate tasks with projects for each employee. They will get an email saying they've been assigned a task.
They can reply and comment, just as I can on the task.
They can upload their comps - This also makes nice links for my clients to view comps and for print companies to download high large zips.
I can view everyones tasks on one screen
I can mark tasks as completed
Update priority, phases, etc.

From what you've posted, this looks like almost the perfect solution for my studio. Have you ever considered releasing this to the public?

Probably Not...it wouldn't be a bad idea, I just don't want to have to support it. There are also several interfaces for creating new projects and such that would need a lot of love... It works great for what we want, but may vary for others.

I'm a graphic designer with a wide variety of projects in web and print. What are some good project management programs that would work for what I do?

I'm finding it hard to keep tabs on all of my projects.

The combination of Billings, Merlin, Things and OmniOutliner is superior to anything I have used on Windows. From an integration point of view Billings and Merlin exchange data - OmniOutliner is excellent for meeting notes, and Things for private actions that do not go into the PPlan.

Merlin exports smoothly to MS Project, which is critical for me, running projects involving several other PMs, all stuck with Windows, and imports equally smoothly. For Billings, I can invoice straight based on project output.

In general, the investment has been worth it - I looked at OmniPlan and found it inadequate. I tried using FlexTeam (from App4Mac) after stupidly buying it - in practise it is a shining example of how Mac should NOT be designed - hopeless software, no integration, no flexible reports, clunky. For that reason I didn't try their Projector software either as I expected to waste my time on that, too.

So ... DayLite is a good piece of kit, too, but I find it annoying when using it in anger (tried it out for a month). Ended up where I am, absolutely happy and with no problems whatsoever.